Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>I live in Phoenix, Arizona and have a question about fililng Pre-Liens and Mechanic Liens

I live in Phoenix, Arizona and have a question about fililng Pre-Liens and Mechanic Liens

My understanding is that I have 21 days from the moment I break ground to file a pre-lien. If a pre-lien is not filed that I am unable to file a mechanics lien later down the road. So basically, within the first 3 weeks of starting a new project, I must file a pre-lien in order to protect my rights as a contractor if I was to ever want to move forward with an actual lien? I just wanted to verify that this information is correct and I'm nto misunderstanding any part of it? Thank you, Aaron Chapin aaron@zonarestoration.com 480-277-1766

1 reply

Jul 31, 2021

That is all correct. But simply because you forget to send a preliminary 20-day notice doesn't mean you don't send it at a later date. The lien will secure the debt owed for work performed 20 days before mailing the notice forward. So if you are on month 3 of a 6 month project and you forgot to send the notice, you should still send the preliminary notice because you will have lien rights for the work performed for the last 3 months of the project. Best practices - mail the preliminary notice when you start work no matter what. I see so many contractors mail them out only when there is a problem getting paid. Very often that is too late. The mailing of the notice is not a lien and it will not upset the project owner because it has no effect on the property. There is no reason not to mail one at the beginning of every single project.

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